Bethlehem – Ma’an – Amnesty International has withdrawn from a role in Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen’s upcoming concert in Tel Aviv, a move welcomed by boycott campaigners.

Amnesty International USA said they had been approached by Cohen’s representatives for advice in setting up a Fund to receive and distribute proceeds from the Tel Aviv concert to charities. The move comes after Amnesty came under pressure to from pro-Palestinian activists to cut off its ties to the 24 September concert.

“Given the different requirements of AI's work and that of the Fund both have agreed that at this point AIUSA will withdraw from active involvement with the Fund,” the organization said in a statement on its website. Amnesty will also not receive any funds from the concert.

Amnesty stressed, however, that it was not withdrawing from the fund as a part of a boycott. The fund was to benefit the Parents Forum: Bereaved Parents for Peace and Reconciliation and other Israeli and Palestinian NGOs.

“Amnesty International has taken no position on boycotts anywhere in the world,” the statement said. “AIUSA's participation in discussions related to this project was based firmly on the belief that setting up such a fund could be beneficial to Israeli and Palestinian efforts on behalf of human rights."

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) hailed the move as a victory.

“We welcome Amnesty International’s withdrawal from this ill-conceived project which is clearly intended to whitewash Israel’s violations of international law and human rights,” said PACBI’s Omar Barghouti in a statement. He said that Amnesty’s withdrawal would deny Cohen and his team “the cover of the organization’s prestige and respectability.”

Palestinian NGOs and rights advocates around the world wrote letters demanding that Amnesty cancel its role. PACBI said that Israel Discount Bank, a major sponsor of Cohen’s concert, is involved in the construction of illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

In an apparent response to the outcry over his Tel Aviv gig, Cohen scheduled another concert for a select audience of Palestinians in Ramallah, organized by the Palestinian Prisoners’ club. Palestinian campaigners rejected the concert, arguing that Cohen should respect the call for a cultural boycott of Israel and cancel the Tel Aviv concert before being allowed to perform in Ramallah. The Ramallah concert was then cancelled by the Prisoners’ Club.